David Williams and Dr. William Pitt, Department of Chemical Engineering Abstract The purpose of this research project was to determine the optimal method to solvent bond polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pieces together. Understanding how to create a strong solvent bond in PVC is important to a related prosthetic leg project that has been performed at BYU. […]
The Effect of Lanthanum on Iron Based Water-Shift Catalysts
Trevor Slade and Dr. Morris Argyle, Department of Chemical Engineering Introduction The water-gas shift reaction is the reaction where carbon monoxide and water react to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen as shown in equation 1. The reaction is commonly used alongside steam reforming of methane to produce high purity hydrogen which is used to synthesize […]
Developing the Confocal and Fluorescence Microscopy Techniques to Visualize the eLiposomes Inside of Cells to Treat Cancer
Tara Pandey and Dr. William Pitt, Department of Chemical Engineering Cancer is among the leading causes of death in the world. The goal for this project was to visualize a liposome containing perfluorocarbon emulsion an eLiposome, inside of tumor cells using confocal and fluorescence microscopes. A successful study of this project would help to understand […]
Charcoal Briquette Manufacturing in the Uros Islands of Peru
Aaron Harrison and Dr. Vincent Wilding, Department of Chemical Engineering The Uros Islands in Peru, also known as the floating islands on Lake Titicaca, are made from reeds by the inhabitants. These reeds serve not only as shelter, but also as the main cooking fuel for nine months of the year. During the other three […]
Waste Treatment for the Uros Islands
Spencer Bowen and Dr. Randy Lewis, Department of Chemical Engineering The goal of this project was to design and install one bio-toilet system before the end of May 2011 in cooperation with the inhabitants of the Uros Islands on Lake Titicaca, Peru. The system is composed of two parts: the bio-toilet infrastructure and the treatment […]
Scaffold Design of a Novel Nano-Particle for Single-Target Imaging
Chad Varner and Dr. Brad Bundy, Department of Chemical Engineering The purpose of this project has been to help develop a novel nano-imaging particle. Current methodologies have limitations that preclude them from being used for nanometric (1-500nm) imaging processes in living organisms. These include, but are not limited to, low signal to noise ratios, limited […]
An Alternative Method to Prepare Cobalt Catalysts Using Salt Precursors
Trevor Seegmiller and Dr. Calvin Bartholomew, Department of Chemical Engineering Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) is the process for converting syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen) into liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel. A cobalt or iron catalyst is required for the process. Cobalt catalysts have the highest effectiveness and stability in FTS; however, they are more […]
Development of a Fuel-efficient Stove to Reduce Particulate Emissions
Geoffrey Lemon and Dr. Randy Lewis, Department of Chemical Engineering Introduction According to the World Health Organization, one of the leading causes of death in developing countries is respiratory disease, caused by inhalation of particulates from cooking stoves.1 With this challenge in mind, our team of interdisciplinary engineering students worked for over two semesters on […]
Cell-free Protein Synthesis Extract Preparation Methods
Troy Holland and Dr. Brad Bundy, Department of Chemical Engineering My ORCA project proposed to test and optimize various low capital cost cell lysis methods, while leaving the internal cell machinery intact and viable for cell-free protein synthesis research. Our cells of interest were a strain of the bacterium E. coli, and their cellular machinery […]
Enhancing in vitro Production of Exotic Proteins Utilizing Linear DNA Templates
Savannah Herdegen and Dr. Brad Bundy, Department of Chemical Engineering [Final report posting is embargoed pending publication.]